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Entered CNET Catalog: 09/12/2003
SKU: plsm42tv
Manufacturer: Gateway Inc.
Manufacturer description
Get a movie-theater experience in the comfort of your own home. 42-inch Plasma TVs offer the big picture in an ultra-thin design light enough to hang on your wall with a built-in analog tuner. A basic plasma screen consists of two thin sheets of glass containing tiny, gas-filled cells. Electronic current stimulates the cells to produce light and color, creating a bright, steady, vivid picture.Product summary
The good: Comprehensive feature package; solid color decoder and video processing.
The bad: So-so black-level performance; some noise and false-contouring artifacts.
The bottom line: This Gateway panel is an improvement over last year's lower-resolution model and provides good value for your dollar.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 10/07/2003
The 4-inch-thick panel has a color scheme that even adventurous decorators will have a hard time blending into the living room: the finish is light gold, and a black bezel about 1 inch wide frames the screen. The buttons for power, volume, menu navigation, input selection, and other key functions are at the bottom right of the display. The package includes a table stand.
The HD plasma has the same large, comprehensive remote as Gateway's other 42-incher. Keys offering direct access to all inputs are extremely convenient, especially for custom installers and anyone else who programs universal remotes. Most of the functions hide behind a sliding door; after we removed it, the control was much more usable. Our other quibble was with the lack of button illumination.
The difference between HD and regular old SD, whether you're talking about plasmas from Gateway or some other manufacturer, is the number of pixels available to create the image. This 42-incher has 1,024x1,024 pixels, significantly more than an SD panel's 852x480 pixels but not quite enough for true HD resolution.
Unlike the plasma monitors of yore, this Gateway has a full feature package, including single-tuner PIP (picture in picture) and POP (split screen), a built-in NTSC tuner, and a pair of small speakers hidden in the back. You can choose from several color-temperature presets and, of course, multiple aspect ratios. Independent picture memory for each input, another very important feature for the initial setup stage, allows you to optimize the panel for all your different video sources.
This set's connectivity options are comprehensive. For inputs, you get two sets for component video and one each for DVI transmission, 15-pin VGA computer hookup, S-Video, and composite video. All the video ins have their own stereo-audio jacks to feed the internal speakers. You'll also find one set of audio outputs, a subwoofer out, and an RS232 port for touch-panel control systems. Gateway generously included VGA, component, and composite video cables.
The 42-inch HD plasma turned in a good overall score during lab testing. The excellent color decoder didn't produce red rush, an overaccentuation of red that occurs even after you've set color properly with SMPTE color bars. Green was on the limy, neon side, but it wasn't too funky. Before calibration, we measured 8,900K at the low end of the grayscale and 8,650K at the top. Calibration resulted in dead-on 6,500K readings for both the top and the bottom of the scale. Such impressive color decoding and grayscale tracking make the panel capable of highly accurate color reproduction.
While the video processor's 3:2 pull-down circuitry did a fine job removing jagged lines and other artifacts in film-based DVD movies, it tended to introduce some low-level video noise, which appeared in darker images as small, moving motes. They were especially noticeable on the analog video inputs, including the component-video in, but using the DVI connection abated the effect a bit.
This panel treats the DVI input like RGB, so you get control over contrast and brightness but not color, tint, or sharpness. This restriction should not pose a problem with HDTV sources, but it will with NTSC sources such as DVD. We recommend you connect a good progressive-scan DVD player to one of the component-video inputs and reserve the DVI jack for HDTV hookup.
Scenes from Charlotte Gray and Ice Age looked quite good after calibration. Color saturation was excellent, and skin tones appeared exceedingly natural. Black-level performance, while not great, wasn't nearly as bad as what we saw on last year's lower-resolution GTW-P42M102. Low-level noise and false-contouring artifacts, which showed up as gradations (as opposed to smooth fades) between adjacent dark areas, were annoying in very dark sequences but much less so in brighter material.
To evaluate the panel's HD performance, we turned to the 1080i D-Theater version of Joe Kane's Digital Video Essentials. The bright scenes during the montages came out mostly pleasing with a little noise, but the darkest footage was again riddled with false-contouring artifacts. The opening animation looked quite good, but it is extremely bright. The NASA shuttle launch sequence also turned out rather well. Using the DVI input cleans up noise on other digital displays, such as DLP projectors, so taking the same approach with HD material on this Gateway might reduce artifacts. Unfortunately, our JVC D-Theater deck isn't DVI-equipped, and we didn't have any other DVI HD sources with which to check this theory.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 User Rating: 
1/10
made this poor choice twice....
Pros: was good tv while it lasted
Cons: have gone through 2 of these. first one was broken with the black lines across it. second unite wont turn on. each one lasted 2 years
User Rating: 
2/10
Extremely Bad Choice!
Pros: Price at purchase
Cons: after only 4 years it went black
User Rating: 1/10
Much like everything else Gateway - NO SUPPORT
Pros: Nice while it BRIEFLY lasted
Cons: After a short lifespan and very limited use, the unit went dead. Gateway no longer supports it and wants $500 just to come look at it.
User Rating: 2/10
Never Buy Gateway
Pros: Nothing Good to say
Cons: Out of Warranty is out of Warranty
User Rating: 1/10
Dead after 13 months
Pros: NONE! ZERO
Cons: Defective Product
User Rating: 
3/10
16 Months, and it's starting to go...
Pros: Low cost at the time (Nov 03), HD image is great (when compared to nothing else next to it)
Cons: It won't shut off, remote isn't responding, front button's don't work. I have to pull the plug to get it to respond
User Rating: 2/10
Great picture when it worked...
Pros: Good menu's, great HD picture, analouge cable looked so/so. DVD's were great alond with PS2 Games.
Cons: Remote was average for a high dollar tv. The set experianced problems from day one. I got a blank screen had to power off and on to get a picture. Then less than one year from purchase date the set went out completly... Good luck getting it fixed, the pro
User Rating: 2/10
A lot of money for 15 months of use
Pros: Initially, a good price - but adding the extended warranties adds up.
Cons: Any help from Gateway will cost you if the warranty is up. Even telling you to unplug it for 30 minutes costs $50.00 No - absolutely NO help from Gateway after the warranty expires. The TV is not worth the aggrevation.
User Rating: 2/10
never buy Gateway
Pros: none
Cons: My gateway plasma power supply went out after 13 months also Gateway refuses to fix part 3000 dollars down the drain
User Rating: 
4/10
This TV has broken 3 times in 9 months
Pros: Looks good, plenty of inputs
Cons: tri-yearly breakdowns leading to 3 day wait for repairmen with the wrong parts(all three times). In addition to, 10 day wait for replacement, that is pieced together from old ones (I believe, and so does the tech) I guess I'm glad i got the 700$ sevice pl
User Rating: 4/10
Beware, think twice about this one!
Pros: Good picture and price.
Cons: TV power supply died 10 months after purchase. Technician replaced the entire power supply. However, three months later, the image controller went bad. The TV menu would always appear on the screen. When I called Gateway support, they said it would cost $
User Rating: 3/10
You DONT get what you pay for
Pros: Perfect for covering up that hole in your sheetrock that you just dont feel like repairing.
Cons: Customer Service. I have had this tv repaired 3 time for a sound problem. They replaced 2 cards 3 time but the problem still was not resolved. After several calls/ and voice mail messages to their level 2 tech Leroy, I gave up and called a customer servic
User Rating: 
5/10
13 month disaster
Pros: Good picture, and nice initial price.
Cons: 13 months after purchase and it's now a piece of art-wort. Gateways sys there is no way to fix the power supply.
User Rating: 3/10
BUZZZZZES like CRAZY!
Pros: Price, but what good is a good price if the product buzzes so bad you can't hear anything but that.
Cons: Buzzes, REALLY loud. I called gateway with this complaint and was told that because of my altitude ( I live in Denver) that is why the TV buzzed really bad... NOT TRUE I went and spent a little more money and got a Panasonic and NO buzzing and 10x better
User Rating: 2/10
GOOD PRODUCT LOUSEY BUILD QUALITY... AVOID!!!!!
Pros: Good black level and general picture quality. Easy to mount on wall and set-up is a cinch.
Cons: NO SUPPORT FOR POWER SUPPLY ISSUES!!!!! If you have a power supply issue, forget it!!! They simply will not attempt to fix it. So even if there is a flaw in the manufacturing of the part, more than one year after purchase you are out of luck and a few tho
User Rating: 
8/10
great hd/dvd picture-GET THE EXT WARRANTY
Pros: customer service was very helpfull with problems and replacement (twice). I have had no arguements with cust. serv. due to ext warranty. Install your own, its easy.
Cons: internal speakers are inadequit to say the least.
User Rating: 3/10
don't but from gateway!!!!!!!!1
Pros: great picture
Cons: 1)if something goes wrong they send refurbished equiptment! "it's in the warrenty" 2)nasty people on the tech desk.-"we don't care we got paid from citibank" 3)all stores have closed. The frame and bezel cracked on the bottom right and lift corners. They
User Rating: 
6/10
Good TV for the price. Get the right install package.Don't expect something for nothing.
Pros: Willing to honor the warranty wether it needs to be repaired or replaced. Decent picture. Extended warranty available for a resonable price. 30 day money back guarantee. Great Technical phone support.
Cons: Strict adherance to the written warranty. Not HDCP compliant with DVI connection.
User Rating: 5/10
My plasma DIED 13 months after purchase
Pros: none
Cons: My Gateway plasma tv just FRIED on the 13th month from purchase date. Gateway informs me that it will cost $1,000 for a tech to come and hopefully fix it. Or I can pay $79 per hour to have a nice chat with them and still have a piece of Junk sitting in
User Rating: 5/10
Dies right after warantee is over
Pros: Looks great.
Cons: My Gateway plasma tv just FRIED on the 13th month from purchase date. Gateway informs me that it will cost $1,000 for a tech to come and hopefully fix it. Or I can pay $79 per hour to have a nice chat with them and still have a piece of junk sitting in
User Rating: 
9/10
best deal for high quality plasma
Pros: excellent color reproduction and image detail for digital input
Cons: speakers only mediocre.
User Rating: 8/10
Great Product all around.
Pros: Awesome Picture Quality, when used with a HD signal. Lots of Connectivity. Easy to set up. Tuners Included.
Cons: Poor Speakers. But Hey who doesn't have surround sound with a Plasma TV anyways ?
User Rating: 8/10
lost picture in 2 months
Pros: Great value for features
Cons: Customer service and replacement service was poor. Still not replaced after 3 weeks and they have no idea of when I will see it. The staff was great but they have no means of tracking what the repair company is doing. Very upset and will not purchase f
User Rating: 8/10
Great value; very good HD picture.
Pros: I started with the 46" unit and it wasn't HD - big mistake. I have been using this unit since Nov. 2003 and it's now Feb 2004 - so I've had a bit of time to figure things out.. I love the this 42" HD unit (but now I want the 50" unit!) I have both compo
Cons: I think the picure can have too much contrast/brightness at times and the adjustments for differenct settings is fair - so I mostly leave it alone unless it's really bad (like ESPN HD being too bright at times). Usually the HD picture comes out just perf
User Rating: 5/10
Gateway Customer service rip-off
Pros: The TV is good value.
Cons: Gateway charged $200 for the installation which included setting it on the shelf, plugging in power only. They refused to connect cable, dvd, vcr, surround sound, etc. all of which was complicated by the TV setup functions. They refused to refund my $200
User Rating: 2/10
Very poor contrast, foggy picture.
Pros: Built in speakers. Don't need to buy expensive externals. Nice screen size. Just enough bigger to make a noticable difference.
Cons: Very, very, very poor contrast. The worst contrast of the 20 plus systems we viewed. The comissioned salesman told us that except for resolution, it performed as well as their HDTV units. In the darkened "showroom" the unit looked good enough. However
User Rating: 3/10
Customer Support???? Where?
Pros: Works great when it works
Cons: Worst customer support...took me 4 months now to resolve the replacement of my tv that didn't work when I got it. They finally replaced it under warranty, picked up the old tv, then sent me an invoice for the full amount of the replacement. Now trying
User Rating: 9/10
impressive picture especially ED/HDTV input
Pros: Amazing value, great progressive DVD and strong HDTV performance. input memory
Cons: so so native speakers
User Rating: 
10/10
Nice !!!
Pros: Great price and value much cheaper than the sony of fuji which has the same res. 1024x1024
Cons: The long backorder but its worth it buy it from a store those phone and internet sales people are nimrods
User Rating: 6/10
Good Quality - but Nimrod Techs
Pros: Good overall quality when compared to other sets
Cons: Paid the "extra" for the installation - but still had to give the Technician technical advice - should have done it myself.
User Rating: 8/10
Outstanding for the money
Pros: has all the inputs you could want.
Cons: built in speakers need to be beef up a bit.
User Rating: 8/10
Good so Far!
Pros: Great Connectivity and wonderful picture when connected to 480P or better. Go to the store to see it before you buy it. I picked my up at the local location and had a no hassel purchase. My only concern is the one year warranty, I will be buying an extend
Cons: Black levels 480i signals look bad (typical of plasma's) don't use the speakers they are a joke don't pay for the wall kit at the store you can buy the same one online for half the price. don't pay them to deliver, it is a waste.
User Rating: 6/10
Fairly priced
Pros: Install techs are not nimrods! 1. If you didn't "EXTRA" for a "Premium Installation" then Techs will not hide your wires. 2. GW clearly states that a power source must be 6 feet from your TV. Get it together people.
Cons: Jackass customers who want more than they pay for.
User Rating: 6/10
DON'T BUY GATEWAY!
Pros: Cheap
Cons: Worst customer service! Gateway incorrectly billed for the TV. Gateway did not delivery the TV when promised. Power cable was too short to use when mounted on the wall. Quality is of the TV is just ok, but definitely not worth the hours and hours of cu
User Rating: 
7/10
Good product, HORRIBLE service
Pros: good television, all around. I got exactly what I paid for. I'm happy with the picture (including black level) and the connectibility of the set.
Cons: First of all, GatewayGateways installation technician was a complete nimrod - insisted on mounting my television way too high, did not conceal my wiring, and screwed up the setup of my components and speakers. basically, a waste of $500 and my time. I'm
User Rating: 10/10
Your Plasma Search Ends Here
Pros: Best Value For Plasma On Market Period, awesome color and resolution, DVD's look spectacular.
Cons: Store was out of stock and had to wait a week for one to get shipped, but so worth the wait.
